Last night on BBC1 I witnessed possibly one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen at a football match in the 20-odd years I’ve been watching football. It was Panorama again, and while I’m usually criticising their incorrect use of investigative journalism, this time is was unequivocally detrimental to the fans of club football in Poland and Ukraine.

Usually its FIFA who are the usual target for my bile, but the other administration here, that is UEFA, have grossly dropped the ball to allow a major football tournament to happen in these countries. For the benefit of you who have not seen this program I’ll just highlight why the hell we have descended into complete madness by hosting this tournament in two countries with animals for football fans.

We have the crowds making monkey noises at black players. This is totally unacceptable. What are we in, the 16th century? You even have young boys and girls making these gestures, and call me cynical, but this archaic approach to someone attitude to people of different ethnicity just dates the population back about 150 years.

Somehow I doubt this guy is ordering 5 ice creams...

If the monkey noises weren’t abhorrent enough, then surely the Nazi Salutes from a 2,000 strong crowd is even more abhorrent. Chants of “zeig heil” in reference to Adolf Hitler, because I quote “Hitler hates blacks and jews” as some kind of fucked up justifiation for chanting it from the terrance is an utter, UTTER disgrace. Hitler was also a royal cunt who was responsible the deaths of millions of innocent people and certainly not anywhere near what I would define as a role model. The crowds are wearing White Power symbolism and graffiti seen all around the stadia depicting swastikas makes me even question as to why the fuck UEFA chose these two countries to host a tournament. And who the fuck turns up to football match wearing a balaclava unless you’re a cunt looking for trouble.

I'm pretty sure this is what happened!

But maybe my history isn’t great, but I do have to severely question why the Poles are glorifying Nazism through chants and salutes. In 1939, when the Third Reich marched into Warsaw, I don’t remember the nazis being too kind towards the Poles. In fact, they were placed into death camps along side the Jews that they seem to hate so much. So where is the disparity? Ukraine was part of the Soviet Republic who fought the Nazis, relinquishing their control from Poland in 1945 so I don’t see how both countries can be so pro-Nazi. Either they’re just backwards countries who seem to have been in some kind of time inertia since 1940, of they’re both severely suffering from zero eduction and chronic Stockholm Syndrome.

But what have the Poles got against Jews? And why do they seems to justify making these chants because the opposition is a “Jewish Football Club”. WTF is a Jewish club anyways? Do they play at home in a synagogue? Are dreidels and hanukiahs the equivalent of clackers and floodlights? It’s disgusting, and this entire situation is accelerated by the fact that the stewards and police do precisely fuck all about it. It’s even worse in the Ukraine, as when the journalist interviewed the head of the Kharkiv police he played down the Nazi salutes claiming they were pointing at the other team. Not even a special needs chimpanzee would be fooled by this twat claiming that racism and nazism doesn’t happen in the stands, and that “Ukrainian fans are the friendliest around”. After witnessing the hidden camera footage of the home crowd of Metalist Kharkiv, I would be inclined to ban them permanently from European Competition for promoting Nazism. The sickest moment of yesterday’s documentary was when they beat up their own fans, because they happened to be asian. Not only was it unmitigated violence, they were calculated enough to circle and ensnare them so they could not get away. How the police and ignore this is anybody’s guess.

Apparently they're "just pointing". Erm no.

If the nazi pubs with nazi propaganda, with white supremists in Ukraine, or the anti-Semitic wankers in the Polish home crowd isn’t enough to put you off letting them host a tournament, then I don’t know what more could. UEFA have not done their homework at all before awarding them the Euros, and like Sol Campbell stated, “it would be safer as an ethnic England fan to watch it at home”. I couldn’t agree more. Football tournaments like the Euros and the World Cup bring prosperity, tourism and income to the regions hosting the tournament. From the evidence I saw last night both countries shouldn’t be allowed to compete, let alone host them. I physically felt sick watching that documentary and I sincerely hope all these white supremists trip and fall on their own concealed knives and accidently commit seppaku, because they’re rabid animals who deserve to be caged and starved.

The aftermath of that airing of Panorama gets even worse for me, with officials in Poland and Ukraine denying any of the material broadcast. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Voloshyn, responding to footage of fans aiming Nazi salutes during games in Ukraine, said:

“Nazi symbols can be seen at any match in England, but does it mean that fans should not come to London for the Olympics?”.

Well since I’ve been to over 30 matches here in England, in the Premier League, and lower divisions, I can safely say that my safety has never felt at risk and I certainly have never seen any Nazi symbols, but then again I suppose it’s racist for me to suggest that Mr Voloshyn had too much vodka for breakfast, because that claim is just absurd.You fucking twat.

Similarly officials in Poland attempted to hit back by saying that racism:

“a problem specific to the whole of Europe and not only to Poland”

So all the footage of the Polish nazi salutes and calling the opposing team a bunch of Jews is ok because it’s all over Europe? Give over. Plus saying that doesn’t mean all the anti-Semitic chants didn’t happen. Plus the whole are of Europe aren’t hosting the Euros, you are, so the stadia which usually hosts jew baiting and Hitler salutes will have the European elite playing in them, which is the whole point. Racism is problem everywhere, but not everywhere has disgraceful fans idolising the fuhrer.

So this is a friendly flag then is it?

In conclusion, the Polish and Ukrainian authorities can attempt to gloss over the findings of Panorama all they want, by their callow attempts of pointing the finger elsewhere instead of actually taking responsibility for the disgraceful behaviour of their fans, but that doesn’t wash with me. Yes they’re angered and I too have accused Panorama of being a bit selective with their footage. But you cannot deny what was shown, no matter how much they try and accuse England of “starting” skinhead culture. I’ve been to a match where Millwall played, and I didn’t see any nazi or white extremist salutes, and they’re the nuttiest bunch in England!

I’m not saying all Polish/Ukrainians are racist, but the ones in the footage at the football matches certainly were disgraceful. I’m in full agreement with Sol Campbell’s comments and if you ask me the Polish/Ukrainian authorities are just embarrassed that their police and stewards did precisely nothing in the wake of blatant nazi gesturing and chanting. The sooner they recognise the problem, the sooner it can be sorted. Pretending it didn’t happen never solved anything.

2 Comments for this entry

I can’t believe this isn’t getting more publicity, it’s absolutely disgraceful, especially if you think that holding your hand up in a “Hitler/Nazi salute” in Germany is punishable by up to THREE years in prison yet in Poland obviously not. Although I can see why that wouldn’t be a law in Poland as historically there’s not been too many true Polish Nazis.

The staggering thing is Polish people were put into the Nazi death camps alongside Jews (and other inmates). Hitler saw the Poles and Russians as “lesser races” on the same level as he saw Jews, so I have a real hard time understanding how retarded a Pole would have to be to support Hitler. Their grandparents were probably treated like animals under the Nazi rule, it’s almost as retarded as a Jewish Nazi supporter.

As far as I’m aware the Nazis never got to Ukrane, and being an ex communist block country you can see how the far right Nazis might have picked up support over the decades, I suppose in a knee-jerk ‘anti communism’ reaction, but that doesn’t make it right and the Police taking this behaviour as “normal” is just disgraceful, why have more politicians and footballers not been banging on UEFA’s door demanding that the tournament gets held somewhere else? I can’t believe that Ukraine was even allowed to put in a bid in the first place. Even if this was marginalised behaviour (which it’s not), then Ukrane should still have been blocked from bidding, but on this scale… words escape me, I thought the FA and FIFA were retarded, but obviously UEFA are either just as corrupt or just as retarded… or both.

If any foreign fans get hurt during the tournament, then the UEFA voting panel should be held accountable in the same way that Milošević was held responsible for his crimes. You can’t send ethnic fans into a Nazi party meeting, that’s just plain stupid!

“Ukraine’s leading English-language newspaper The Kyiv Post said that European tabloid newspapers portrayed Ukraine as ‘a backward country infested with corruption, Aids, prostitutes and racist thugs’. The paper conceded that while some of these criticisms rang true…”